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Wednesday, March 10, 2010

The Tots (Bar Louie)

So in order to make The Denver Dish a more sustainable blog (especially with Jess in law school and our accounts on the fringe) my thought is to both expand the scope and narrow the focus of my subjects. Not that eating out at the finer of fine in Denver is coming to a halt for us, but there are a lot of great places out there I look forward to sharing with you all and don't specifically fall in the realm of fine dining.

You can expect to still see a full review about every month or so, but on a more regular basis I will feature a specific Denver Dish that has found notoriety with my cravings. All that to say, I thought I would kick off the new theme with a post that blew this paradigm wide open. The Digs: Bar Louie. The Dish: Loaded Tots.

There are a few things that you know are just plain guilty pleasures. Fried Food, cheese and booze come to mind for me on this specific outing. Bar Louie is doing some pretty good stuff and for me is sort of knocking the socks off of my bar food habit. We're not talking greasy wings or fried cheese here. But we are looking at layer upon layer of flavor, texture and just plain amazingness.

A healthy portion of your classic tator tot (which I think is showing up more and more from a trending standpoint) starts off the base of this dish. Then, it is doused in a rich white cheddar cheese sauce. I can hear you all gasping at the thought of some Casa Bonita-style white nacho action, but this is far from it. Rich and velvety, this stuff adds some depth right off the top. Enter stage left: the 'loaded' attribution. Spicy Giardiniera (Wikipedia this if you don't know what I'm talking about, it's a Bar Louie staple), crispy bacon, and green onions top this thing off.

Even the enthusiastic gastronome that I work with who refuses to budge on his culinary preferences agrees with me on this one. Actually consider this a shout out to the dude who put me up to this post in the first place. Not to mention he also sent me the pic on his iPhone.

What more do you need? Oh yea. Beer. Go for the Rogue Dead Guy. If you haven't been so privileged to enjoy this hoppy concoction, guzzle it down on draft here. They're the only one I've been able to find that carries it so far, if you come across more let me know and I'll be there right behind you!

So head on over to Bar Louie and treat yourself to a plate on your next game day outing or Friday happy hour. This stuff is GOOD.

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Mike Ross

I am a Denver native and currently live in Capitol Hill with my wife Jessica. I attended Johnson & Wales for a Culinary Arts and Foodservice Management degree, and have worked in the restaurant industry for 15+ years, currently working with Red Robin Gourmet Burgers.